The Maccabees

Orlando Weeks - Vocals
Hugo White - Guitar
Felix White - Guitar/Vocals
Rupert Jarvis - Bass
Robert Dylan Thomas - Drums

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Official biography:

In every British band, there is a little bit of Britain. From the revolutionary sounds of The Clash, to the observations of The Streets, and the character sketches of The Kinks, the musical legacy of this country is rich in bands that somehow couldn’t help be as much about where they’re from, as about where they’re at.

The Maccabees are a young band making big strides towards becoming part of this grand tradition. A decidedly English guitar pop band, whose worldview has been formed by influences as disparate as the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, television cricket coverage and growing up in south London, this is a group with a unique slant on things, and who are eager to share it.

“I think there’s a fine line between ‘British’ and ‘laddish’,” says 22-year-old singer Orlando Weeks. “I don’t think we’re about that – all beer, and the cross of St George, but I do think there’s something quintessentially English about our music.”

That much has already become evident from the group’s releases so far. Their first independently-released single 'X-Ray' was a characterful relationship tale. Their second, the live favourite 'Latchmere', was a reminiscence of going swimming at the titular Battersea leisure centre. Essentially, the band’s strongest material is grounded in experiences particular to its members – just as several band members first met at school, or while playing football, their songs are themselves written about subjects close to home.

“I like to write about things I know about – you’re much less likely to come a cropper if you do that,” says Orlando. “It’s good to face the facts of your life. So maybe you don’t have prostitutes living down the road, or crack houses. I don’t know about that – but I know about 'Latchmere'.”

It’s this kind of self-deprecating, but quietly-confident attitude that one might see as being central to the way that The Maccabees do things. Formed in 2003, when Orlando began rehearsing in his bedroom with drummer Robert Thomas, bass player Rupert Jarvis and guitar-playing brothers Hugo and Felix White, the band have always worked pragmatically with the resources at their disposal.

Having started to play live almost straight away (“When we first started we were like a folk band,” remembers Hugo, “we just played really basically and slowly.”), in the two and a half years since, The Maccabees have got better and better the more they’ve done. From the off, their live show has attempted to develop the kind of rapport with an audience they had once seen The Libertines achieve. Their music, meanwhile, has developed into a nervy and tuneful noise of its own.

Perhaps you’ve already heard it. A band who excel in making succinct pop statements, The Maccabees’ sound is built on the fast but fascinatingly intricate guitar of the White brothers, but it’s their ability with a pop hook that truly marks them out. The Maccabees can do their own version of balladry, but it’s in the call-and-response interaction between Orlando and backing vocalist Felix that you’ll find on songs like 'Lego' and 'X-Ray' that you’ll hear the original essence of this band. If at times the sheer speed of their material threatens to break them down, it’s this pop sensibility that sees them through.

There have, of course, been musical signposts along their way. One inspiration remains Martin Scorcese’s film about the final performance by The Band, The Last Waltz. Another musical direction was pointed out, rather more explicitly, by a DVD of vintage performances from the BBC TV programme The Old Grey Whistle Test.

“We saw bands like XTC, Dr Feelgood and Talking Heads for the first time,” says Felix. “That was quite a big deal for us – seeing bands with a real genuine quirkiness and edge. Now it seems that some of that has been filtered down, to just having ‘spiky guitars’ or whatever – but then, you could hear them physically playing everything, every motion is aggressive. We wanted to sound like that.”

This, essentially, is a band for whom quirkiness is not a problem. Rather than hung up with being cooler-than-thou, instead, in The Maccabees we find a band that is happy with the way it does things, and extremely comfortable in its own skin. “We never tried to be a rock ‘n’ roll band,” says Orlando. “Pop isn’t even a conscious decision for us. We’re just learning about it all, and learning in front of everybody.”

So far, things are looking good for their mission. Now signed to Fiction records, the band are working on a debut album, and are all confident that they’re now doing their dream jobs.

“We want to be able to listen to our debut album and be proud of it,” says Orlando. “Getting a record deal is quite a rare thing, like being a footballer. But if you’re a footballer, your legacy is a statistic.

“We want to leave something that’s really fucking sweet,” he continues. “That’s a good record of us and our noises. Not just ‘12 goals, 16 sendings-off’.

“If you’re happy with it, it’s a pretty nice thing to leave behind…”

It’s an ambitious thing to try and do, but if anyone can, The Maccabees will. This is a band with great songs and great presence. But also – and maybe just as importantly – one with great charm.